Auburn School Superintendent Tom Morrill was responsive and proactive in his approach to solving the conflict between soccer players and the neighbors of Walton Elementary School.
Somali team coach Abdullahi Abdi, meanwhile, was gracious and considerate in agreeing to a compromise Morrill suggested.
The team will now practice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. Morrill and Abdi, meanwhile, are looking for more space for the team to play.
Both men are to be complimented for taking a sensible approach to this touchy topic and trying to ease tensions between an emerging group of athletes who were starting to use the field so heavily that others were feeling pushed out.
“We have to strike a balance and respect that people want to walk,” Morrill said, at the same time acknowledging that having multiple groups of people wanting to exercise “is a wonderful problem to have.”
He’s right. With U.S. obesity levels rising, and experts calling for people to eat right and get moving, it is encouraging to see public athletic fields used.
The Islamic Center team, the Maine Atlantic Stars, has 22 players and travels to play other teams. The team is reminiscent of earlier ethnic groups that formed hockey and baseball teams and leagues, bringing pride to their countrymen and to their communities.
This weekend, the new Somali team is competing in a World Cup-style tournament of immigrant teams in Lowell, Mass.
The Auburn field used by the soccer players is also used by walkers, joggers and others who need an open place to play — be it tag, touch football, Whiffle ball, Frisbee or any number of pick-up games.
As Morrill so aptly put it, “There are only so many fields available,” and the city has an obligation to make sure everyone, including the soccer players, has a fair chance to play.
“It’s a healthy endeavor. There’s a great deal of teaching of a variety of skills, team building, character building,” Morrill said of the new soccer program.
Our country is famously called a “melting pot,” where groups of newcomers have contributed bits and pieces to our collective culture. Over generations, even the most diverse groups tend to assimilate, adding to the richness and strength of our country.
This doesn’t happen overnight or even easily, as older generations of Franco, Irish, Greek and other ethnic, racial and religious groups often attest.
The most recent dispute certainly shows that when people are willing to listen and compromise, we can get past our differences, on the playing fields, in our neighborhoods and in our lives.
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